Activision has sent us two screenshots to go with the announcement of their new Transformers video game, Transformers: Rise of the Dark Spark. This game which will feature both Fall of Cybertron and Transformers Age of Extinction coming together in a single adventure is coming later in 2014. In these screenshots we have Fall of Cybertron Optimus Prime blasting away, and Age of Extinction Grimlock unleashing his flame breath on Earth amid an industrial area. Read on to check them out.

By way of Game Informer, Edge of Reality will be developing the console versions of Rise of the Dark Spark, not High Moon Studios. Edge of Reality previously worked on bringing Mass Effect 3 to the WiiU, and helped Bioware develop Dragon Age Origins. The 3DS version will be developed by Wayforward (Developer of games such as the Shantae series, Mighty Switch Force, Ducktales Remastered and the 2009 A Boy and His Blob reboot), and will be a Tactical RPG game.

…I may just be dealing the mental scars of losing my X-Brawn and Armada Red Alert figures…Sniffle.

Ahem. In the comics, since you don't read them (Which is totally fine, your choice, I think you should consider since they quite good, but again, totally fine), in Last Stand of the Wreckers, most of the main heroes are dead by the end of the story, killed by the brutal Decepticons, while at least one is left ambiguous. I was hoping for that, but in a slightly bigger scale.

To put it into a manga perspective….

I want characters to die like they do in Attack on Titan.

I want Optimus to make friends with a bunch of cool, nice Autobots…and one by one they start dying off horribly by the Cons.

Is that too much to ask?

No, you have good expectations… but as a writer, I can kind of see how things churn and spin in the background of these things. Attack on Titan is an AMAZING show. But it's also a good example of red shirts being killed off. Granted, you get to know the red shirts for a few minutes, but they're still red shirts! The show is good AND heavy-handed – the drama tricks tend to repeat and go overboard as you watch into the later episodes, and the show becomes somewhat formulaic, despite the great presentation and storytelling. I've got a good feeling for Attack on Titan, but the back of my mind is worried sick that it will end like a lot of other good anime's/manga's: sucky, disappointing resolution that doesn't properly answer all the questions laid out, due to (in my opinion) a poorly crafted story that was written from the seat of the writer's pants.

As for TF games/stories: if we make an analogy with Attack on Titan, we're saying we need to create brand new characters that will have the onscreen time equivalent of what? 5 minutes? Then kill them, while preserving the core, TM'ed cast, and also pretending we had no idea that STARSCREAM would live, while STARBASHER would die.

Also, I'm sorry for your dead toys!

webz

Part of the reason I also gave up on FoC is I found out grimlock goes Dino mode only when you build a meter. Stupidest idea ever. Killed my desire to be a space t-rex.

Great comments, excellent point. I wanted to like what they did with Grimlock, but… wow. I mean, they acknowledge that Grimmy is ultra powerful: excellent. So they use a comic book solution? Let's poison, cripple, and/or castrate him so he can be an equal with the other bots! YEAAAAAH!

It's not a "terrible" idea (in that comics due this sort of thing CONSTANTLY), but the way HMS promoted the Grimlock mechanic, you'd think they'd invented the concept.

Plus, no one had a problem with Grimlock wailing on generic insecticons??? Lame. (At least throw in a hoard of random Sharkticons…)

Clifftothemax

My opinion is staying exactly where it is thank you very much. Why? Because the damn game is not even out yet, and anyone with any sense would judge the final product rather than instantly decrying everything about it.

Hold up:
A) You don't know the studio/are not a fan of their games (theoretically)
B) It's a movie-tie-in game with a release date LOCKED around the movie release
C) It seemingly mashes the movieverse into the WfC/FoC world, for what is likely to be a silly/bad premise (of course, ymmv on this point)
D) Most past situations involving a new studio taking over and reworking a different studio's product… has that turned out better than the original product?

I could really go on, but suffice it to say, it's not an unreasonable expectation to have low expectations for this next game. That said, if your goal is to enjoy this new TF game (and kudos for an admirable, brand-supporting goal), I have no doubt that you can enjoy this next game. But if you're an objective player…

OptimusPrimeval

Now you have gotten me curious as to the Transformers game you'd actually want! What continuity, and who would you like to develop it? You don't have to answer that, of course! Got me thinking though!
Hmmm… perfect Transformers game…

I'm not too informed on the myriad of continuities, nor a complete expert on all the animated programs. I can just say I prefer G1, Prime was pretty good (save for the movie-based restrictions imposed on it), and I pretty much loathe what Bay did to the brand (save getting the mainstream interested in what was a niche product).
Frankly, despite some of the odd revisions (i.e. Grimlock on Cybertron was a TERRIBLE idea), I didn't mind the WfC/FoC games. Despite some of the (well-deserved) criticisms for FoC, I think the intro sequence with Bee was pretty inspired. I also loved the final battle – it expertly switched factions smoothly and effortlessly in what I believe to be one of the best final levels of ANY game. Going from taking out the Autobots as Bruticus, to then taking over Jazz to knock him down and out? Brilliant.

bscalimero3

I will definetly end up buying this sooner or later, after all it's the Transformers… but I do not get my hopes up.

I mean, how is this even supposed to work? As of now in the Videogame-Universe, they are somewhere in space, searching their way back home or elsewhere. And they are in their Cybertronian Form. HMS-Style. Do they magically Pop up on earth and think "hey let's Change the way we look!" and Bazing!!! they have human vehicle form just like that?

I think at least the Story is going to be utter shit at best. Maybe the gameplay can deliver but only time will tell.

Some great points. FoC definitely seemed to break some of the better parts of WfC multi. I actually enjoyed WfC multi and managed to Plat that game (despite some trouble). FoC is just a nightmare. The balance seems off, in that it feels waaaaay more in favor of those playing the game the longest. I get that they were "improving" the balance… but why do I get the feeling this only improved things for the pro's?

And yeah, I can only imagine what a movieverse crossover story would be like in this game: utter garbage.

And incidentally, despite my cynicism, I've never been so pessimistic as to be unable to enjoy something I expected to suck! I definitely enjoyed the two HMS games, despite how much I thought they'd suck. But for one thing, they actually went in a G1 direction, and surprise, surprise… people liked that???

As to date, I played nearly every Transformers-Game that is out there. Yes, even the shitty ones.

High Moon Studios did a great Job with WfC. This modern take on the Transformers-Franchise had everything I could dreamt of. A cool origin Story with lots of funny Moments, great Action Sequences and cool Interpretations of our beloved Characters.

The MP Part was awesome. Class based Combat, cool modes, Kill Streaks, Customisations and a Boatload of Characters to pick and personalyze. Awesome weapons and abilities and well done balancing.

Escalation Mode was extremely satisfiying to Play with friends and very challenging.

Then came FoC… Overall a nice Game but way behind WfC. Where are the Transformers in this Game? You can Play as like 7 different Characters in Campaign. Escalations has four Levels and Forces you with preset Characters to choose from. Stupid Abilities ruined this mode for everyone.

The MP part is suffering also. The customisation is great, okay given, but where are the Kill streaks, the cool weapons, the abillities? Douple jump, Barrel roll? No vehicle abillities! Hello? How can you come up with those stupid game changes when you ALREADY HAVE WfC in Hand?

Oh and this third Movie Game? Well, lets just pretend that never happend…

I will definetly end up buying this sooner or later, after all it's the Transformers… but I do not get my hopes up.

I mean, how is this even supposed to work? As of now in the Videogame-Universe, they are somewhere in space, searching their way back home or elsewhere. And they are in their Cybertronian Form. HMS-Style. Do they magically Pop up on earth and think "hey let's Change the way we look!" and Bazing!!! they have human vehicle form just like that?

I think at least the Story is going to be utter shit at best. Maybe the gameplay can deliver but only time will tell.

One thought at the end:
Why should Grimlock even bother changing his cybertronian alt form? It's not like anyone will mistake him for a real dinosaur!

Thanks for your explanation MasterZero. It does feel it's mostly you're looking for something that WFC/FOC simply are not offering. Still, I encourage you to try out FOC if you get the chance – I can't promise you that there are more (meaningful, named character) deaths or more realistic, serious or dramatic banter you might prefer – but I do think the stakes really do feel higher.
The first and final level are a joy to play and experience (everything in between as well but these are the best).

Suit yourself of course, but I'm sorry – these are all extremely petty reasons to stop playing a game. The Cliffjumper level is what..the third level?

All of your reasons are forced or simply not true. in FOC they fixed the ammo scarcity from WFC so you never have to get out of your way to find it. It's literally scattered everywhere.

I'd say it's way more realistic for a character to switch between weapons rather than keeping just to his iconic one – but I can understand why one would want to play as Megatron and have a big cannon – and you CAN.
I mean seriously, in all the level as his I used nothing BUT the riot cannon – especially after buying some of the upgrades that thing is unstoppable.

Grimlock's transformation IS timed. His levels are also FILLED with enemies and scripted events – you're literally transforming to dino mode every 30 seconds, and can stay in that mode as long as you keep killing enemies.

I can't believe somebody would play through the entire Wii version of WFC and then drop FOC at level 3. I can't.

Easy. I got bored of it. WFC had better art, two player co-op. It's only downside was the lack of ammo and crappy melee. I literally had to backtrack to the beginning of some levels to find ammo. Killed the fun.

With FoC, I found it to be to derivative, but lost fun elements such as multiplayer campaign, the art took a nosedive, and it couldn't hold my attention to play. I ended up going to YouTube and just watching the cinematics. The story, I felt, wasn't as good as WfC, either. Again, this is my personal opinion, I don't expect you to approve or care, it's just coming from a fan of transformers since I got diaclones at a fleamarket in 1983.

Colour me interested. I loved the ROTF game, I enjoyed WfC/FoC and now I get to throw my giant robots against another universe of giant robots and oooh there's a horde mode I love horde modes, okie dokie and there's a fire-breathing robot dinosaur, excellent.

I like this. As a fan of the movieverse, but not necessarily each movie. I'm glad it will meld the universes. Want to see how they play out.
Alot of the GeeWunner's need to understand this isn't just their Transformers, it's for a whole new generation. This IS their new GeeWun, eventually they'll be just like you thinking people shit on the movieverse stuff.
Take it for what it is, and be happy we got two great games in WFC, and FOC!

No, I'm not offended; I'm sorry if my reply seemed a little aggressive. I didn't mean to sound offended or rude! Thank you for the well-spoken clarification: I agree with a lot of your points. I can even agree to your tastes in games (but you can imagine my confusion to hear you talk positively about a genre you don't care for). Ahhhh, I guess you're saying your TF fandom overcomes even "bad" genres?

No worries man, thanks for ! I guess it really does! I enjoyed all the Matrix games too, and certainly not for the gameplay!

ZapRowsdower

Mighty Switch Force lacked story and purpose, despite the fun gameplay, for example. I'd expect something similar here: decent story, crap gameplay; great gameplay, crap story/purpose. Just feels like their games are missing something, despite being correct in a technical sense.

All true, but I personally still give them more credit than I do the studio that is spreading (or dumping, we'll see) their load over all the other versions. I think on the whole I have very low expectations for franchise games anyway. I'm just happy if the developers are fans of the franchise and the game is playable! That's why I enjoyed WFC and FOC! They were otherwise massively unremarkable shooters imo.

Now you have gotten me curious as to the Transformers game you'd actually want! What continuity, and who would you like to develop it? You don't have to answer that, of course! Got me thinking though!
Hmmm… perfect Transformers game…

Thanks for your explanation MasterZero. It does feel it's mostly you're looking for something that WFC/FOC simply are not offering. Still, I encourage you to try out FOC if you get the chance – I can't promise you that there are more (meaningful, named character) deaths or more realistic, serious or dramatic banter you might prefer – but I do think the stakes really do feel higher.
The first and final level are a joy to play and experience (everything in between as well but these are the best).

Thanks for trying to understand. I know I'll like FOC more, after what I've seen, but its not perfect yet.

So many people refer to WFC as being a super dark story. The darkest story. Maybe in terms if lighting, but in other stories, the main heroes actually end up dying in horrible ways, it isn't that dark.

Thanks for your explanation MasterZero. It does feel it's mostly you're looking for something that WFC/FOC simply are not offering. Still, I encourage you to try out FOC if you get the chance – I can't promise you that there are more (meaningful, named character) deaths or more realistic, serious or dramatic banter you might prefer – but I do think the stakes really do feel higher.
The first and final level are a joy to play and experience (everything in between as well but these are the best).

webz

I played thru the Wii WfC rail shooter (favorite TF game yet), beat the PS3 version of WfC, and only got to the cliff jumper stealth mission on FoC.

As someone who doesn't care much for shooters, I get even more frustrated when a franchise-based game goes too far overboard. For example, many transformers like Prime, Megatron, Starscream, etc, have recognizable weapons. It pissed me off to play as megatron and having to use a Nullray cannon. When I DID get the fusion cannon, it gave me 2 or 3 shots. Yup, then I was forced to drop it and get a machine gun. Hello!!! I'm frikkin megatron, not Bruce Willis! I don't want a machine gun. Running around looking for ammo spawns just artificially lengthened the game, and makes me lose interest in it… Part of the reason I also gave up on FoC is I found out grimlock goes Dino mode only when you build a meter. Stupidest idea ever. Killed my desire to be a space t-rex.

Suit yourself of course, but I'm sorry – these are all extremely petty reasons to stop playing a game. The Cliffjumper level is what..the third level?

All of your reasons are forced or simply not true. in FOC they fixed the ammo scarcity from WFC so you never have to get out of your way to find it. It's literally scattered everywhere.

I'd say it's way more realistic for a character to switch between weapons rather than keeping just to his iconic one – but I can understand why one would want to play as Megatron and have a big cannon – and you CAN.
I mean seriously, in all the level as his I used nothing BUT the riot cannon – especially after buying some of the upgrades that thing is unstoppable.

Grimlock's transformation IS timed. His levels are also FILLED with enemies and scripted events – you're literally transforming to dino mode every 30 seconds, and can stay in that mode as long as you keep killing enemies.

I can't believe somebody would play through the entire Wii version of WFC and then drop FOC at level 3. I can't.

And then you read the release date, and your opinion nose-dives! Movie tie-in game FTW?

My opinion is staying exactly where it is thank you very much. Why? Because the damn game is not even out yet, and anyone with any sense would judge the final product rather than instantly decrying everything about it.

I played thru the Wii WfC rail shooter (favorite TF game yet), beat the PS3 version of WfC, and only got to the cliff jumper stealth mission on FoC.

As someone who doesn't care much for shooters, I get even more frustrated when a franchise-based game goes too far overboard. For example, many transformers like Prime, Megatron, Starscream, etc, have recognizable weapons. It pissed me off to play as megatron and having to use a Nullray cannon. When I DID get the fusion cannon, it gave me 2 or 3 shots. Yup, then I was forced to drop it and get a machine gun. Hello!!! I'm frikkin megatron, not Bruce Willis! I don't want a machine gun. Running around looking for ammo spawns just artificially lengthened the game, and makes me lose interest in it… Part of the reason I also gave up on FoC is I found out grimlock goes Dino mode only when you build a meter. Stupidest idea ever. Killed my desire to be a space t-rex.

So far looking pretty good. I hope they continue with a good Multiplayer like the last few games. Can't wait and only four months out it will come quick. 40 playable characters this time and individual paths. I hope that means classless as far as weapons and moves. Individual customized for each character would be bad ass.

So far looking pretty good. I hope they continue with a good Multiplayer like the last few games. Can't wait and only four months out it will come quick. 40 playable characters this time and individual paths. I hope that means classless as far as weapons and moves. Individual customized for each character would be bad ass.

You made a lot of great points. But I just want to add: since when do TF characters die? I don't read the comics, I'll admit, but then does that mean they die all the time in the comics?
Cartoons? No/Seldom deaths.
Video Games? Seldom deaths.
Toys? Ahhhh… I see where you're going: when a toy snaps or gets otherwise demolished… TF DEATH!
But I agree that a "war" should be treated with more reverence and respect than the silly Autobot/Decepticon conflict. No one is allowed to die because everyone is TM'ed and valuable. Makes me appreciate how much better MANGAS can be: they have a beginning and end, and characters die all the time.

…I may just be dealing the mental scars of losing my X-Brawn and Armada Red Alert figures…Sniffle.

Ahem. In the comics, since you don't read them (Which is totally fine, your choice, I think you should consider since they quite good, but again, totally fine), in Last Stand of the Wreckers, most of the main heroes are dead by the end of the story, killed by the brutal Decepticons, while at least one is left ambiguous. I was hoping for that, but in a slightly bigger scale.

To put it into a manga perspective….

I want characters to die like they do in Attack on Titan.

I want Optimus to make friends with a bunch of cool, nice Autobots…and one by one they start dying off horribly by the Cons.

Trophies/achievements are the worst thing to happen to gaming, IMHO. Because of them, so many games took out things that made games more fun for 2nd and 3rd play throughs, such as god modes, etc. sorry, but I see nothing to brag about with trophies… All it tells me is someone wastes too much time playing games.

Hold on: God Mode got taken out for no reason at all. I remember (vaguely) certain games that disabled Trophies when you activated a cheat. Trophies and cheats can coexist, but not every developer wants to bother. That's no reason to blame Trophies. Furthermore, don't you remember all the Game Genies of yesteryear??? Those devices existed for the express lack of cheats! And this was BEFORE Trophies/Achievements.
Now, if you went on to add how Trophies require collecting random crap or playing the game in an outright frustrating manner (i.e. Insane difficulty, use just one gun, use no ammo, etc.)… I'd agree wholeheartedly!

Antimatter

WayForward does fun games with great spritework and music. Contra 4 and Godzilla Domination cemented them as good peeps for games, as far as I'm concerned. A tactical Transformers RPG sounds killer. I've been enjoying playing video games like XCOM Enemy Unknown/Enemy Within and I'm a huge fan of D&D 4th edition's tactical battle grid, and I have been dying for a Transformers RPG in any capacity. This is good news all around.

Contra 4 was TERRIBLE. IMO.
You sort of jumped from WayForward into other companies, and then talk about how WayForward will make a great game. I'm not sure they're going to make an awesome Tactical RPG, even though enough of us would enjoy such a thing. Wanting it to be true, and comparing games like Contra 4? I haven't played Godzilla Domination, but maybe that's a WayForward Tactical RPG you are referencing? Cause then I understand the enthusiasm. If, however, a bunch of you are being enthusiastic about a genre WayForward has not touched…

Clifftothemax

To be perfectly honest, if it keeps the same kind of mechanics as the High Moon games, then it will still be fun to play. Even the DOTM tie-in was pretty decent for a movie-based game and even featured a few aspects that were later incorporated into FOC.

Is this a strange idea? Yeah sure.
Will it make for a terrible product? I very much doubt it.

And then you read the release date, and your opinion nose-dives! Movie tie-in game FTW?

MasterZero

Its quite alright. You are in no ways being rude. I'll happily explain to you why I did not like WFC.

…

If there were more scenes like that, I'd happily change my opinion on WFC.

You made a lot of great points. But I just want to add: since when do TF characters die? I don't read the comics, I'll admit, but then does that mean they die all the time in the comics?
Cartoons? No/Seldom deaths.
Video Games? Seldom deaths.
Toys? Ahhhh… I see where you're going: when a toy snaps or gets otherwise demolished… TF DEATH!
But I agree that a "war" should be treated with more reverence and respect than the silly Autobot/Decepticon conflict. No one is allowed to die because everyone is TM'ed and valuable. Makes me appreciate how much better MANGAS can be: they have a beginning and end, and characters die all the time.

MindChamber

…but you must remember its a prequel. Its kinda hard to kill off known characters of story in a prequel. ..

Good point.

Remember killing Ocelot in MGS3?
"SNAKE!!! SNAKE!!! YOU CREATED A TIME PARADOX!!!!" Best game over screen of all time.

gbm

At the end of the day…

….this Transformers game is better then no Transformers game.

Just like an ugly, fat wife is better than no wife? I mean, dude, raise your standards a little. You can't be so depressed as to think that crap is better than nothing. Just. Don't. Use. That. Argument. Again. Bro.

OptimusPrimeval

No… I don't think WayForward is in any way Intelligent Systems. Intelligent Systems is a first-party Nintendo developer. We agree that WF are a competent developer.
I only said Fire Emblem, and not Advance Wars because FE was the last TRPG of note to release. I don't like Fire Emblem. I don't like Advance Wars. I don't like tactical RPGs. I don't like the time they take to play, and I'd rather spend it playing through a typical RPG. I don't mind playing a light TRPG with familiar characters and a fun story (such as Project X Zone), which is what this will likely be, and as I said, permadeath would spice things up a bit.

I don't like shooters either, but I enjoyed WFC and FOC because they were competently made, showed love for the franchise, and had Transformers in. All of which are likely to apply to WayForward's Transformers game. Perfectly reasonable. I'm sorry if my anticipation of this game offends you. Are you possibly overreacting because secretly you think this 3DS version sounds better than the main version but you don't have a 3DS…?

No, I'm not offended; I'm sorry if my reply seemed a little aggressive. I didn't mean to sound offended or rude! Thank you for the well-spoken clarification: I agree with a lot of your points. I can even agree to your tastes in games (but you can imagine my confusion to hear you talk positively about a genre you don't care for). Ahhhh, I guess you're saying your TF fandom overcomes even "bad" genres?
Incidentally, I HATED the Project X Zone demo's! Ironically enough, I thought that game felt more tedious than any SRPG I've played! Something about mashing buttons during fights… the game melds the fighter genre with RPGs, and I don't think it works that well at all. But it's not the first game to have that combat system… I vaguely remember a similar game with a red cowboy main star, and a green haired party member…
Anyway, WayForward is kind of meh, IMO. Mighty Switch Force lacked story and purpose, despite the fun gameplay, for example. I'd expect something similar here: decent story, crap gameplay; great gameplay, crap story/purpose. Just feels like their games are missing something, despite being correct in a technical sense.

I only understood the first half. So you think WayForward is Intelligent Systems because WayForward is good at infringing, I mean COPYING, other games???? I'm just saying: WayForward does not = Intelligent Systems. Their games are competent, not inspired. I can play a WayForward game and forget all about it the next day. Nothing so special as to get some of you THAT excited. Well, if we're comparing companies like we are, I mean. As a standalone company, and assuming you play very few games, WayForward is ACES!
But then you say you never played Fire Emblem for more than 5 minutes??? So you want a Fire Emblem TF game you don't want to play for more than 5 minutes? Cause it sounds like you DON'T like FE, so it would be a terrible formula to earn your money… You should try out Advance Wars: much better than FE, also made by Intelligent Systems, and less JRPG-ish. It's actually a better fit than FE, but that's just my opinion.

No… I don't think WayForward is in any way Intelligent Systems. Intelligent Systems is a first-party Nintendo developer. We agree that WF are a competent developer.
I only said Fire Emblem, and not Advance Wars because FE was the last TRPG of note to release. I don't like Fire Emblem. I don't like Advance Wars. I don't like tactical RPGs. I don't like the time they take to play, and I'd rather spend it playing through a typical RPG. I don't mind playing a light TRPG with familiar characters and a fun story (such as Project X Zone), which is what this will likely be, and as I said, permadeath would spice things up a bit.

I don't like shooters either, but I enjoyed WFC and FOC because they were competently made, showed love for the franchise, and had Transformers in. All of which are likely to apply to WayForward's Transformers game. Perfectly reasonable. I'm sorry if my anticipation of this game offends you. Are you possibly overreacting because secretly you think this 3DS version sounds better than the main version but you don't have a 3DS…?